Corruption
by SlashPassion
Summary: "You're going to be fun...to corrupt." Nezushi AU. Street musician Nezumi, college student Shion. Shion on top, eventually. Ehehe.
1. Tea in the Rain is the Warmest Kind

It's a raw voice, ragged at the edges. The kind of voice that burrows into you and makes a nest of your soul.

It rises from the street along with the heat of the day as afternoon bleeds pink into evening. Shion's window is always open to catch it.

When the voice starts up, Shion stops himself to listen. He lies on his bed, eyes closed, marinating in the music. It's become something of a ritual.

The voice seems to sing the sky into premature darkness as clouds gather. Soft beads of rain begin to land on Shion's windowsill, the soundless kind of rain that catches in hair and eyelashes. It quickly hardens, though, slapping the side of the apartment and pushing into Shion's bedroom.

Something thumps down below, muted and metallic. Perhaps his mother closing up shop downstairs...

A few moments later, there's a boy sitting in Shion's window. A boy with slate hair and eyes like ice. He knocks on the frame, smiling jauntily.

"Forgive me the use of your fire escape. It's very wet outside, and I figured my biggest fan wouldn't mind a visit."

Shion recognizes the voice immediately. He jumps out of bed. "You're the singer on the street-!"

"Yes, and you're the _admirer_ whose window opens when I sing and closes when I leave. Unfortunately, admiration doesn't fill my cup."

Shion blushes. "Sorry, I don't have much money. I'm just a student on break."

"A student, huh?" Nezumi eyes Shion up and down, from white hair to white socks. "College?"

Shion nods.

"What's your name?"

"Shion."

"Oh, lovely. A flower."

"What about you?"

"I'll tell you what you can call me. Nezumi."

"Nezumi? Like rat?"

Nezumi rolls his eyes. "You're a clever one." He hops down to the floor with a smirk. "Rat and Flower. How poetic."

"Can I get you anything, Nezumi? Some tea?"

Nezumi's jaw slackens.

"Who the hell _are_ you?"

"I told you. I'm Shion."

"Shion offers hospitality to drenched strangers off the street that break into his bedroom?"

"Consider it the tip I owe you." Shion opens his door.

"Is your brain addled?"

Shion smiles benevolently over his shoulder. "I'm perfectly sane. Did you say you wanted tea?"

"I don't believe this guy," Nezumi mutters. He questions his own sanity as he follows Shion down the hall and into a modest, quaint kitchen.

Shion fills two mugs with water and speaks over the hum of the microwave.

"Chai? Green? Oolong?"

"Green is fine."

"I see."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nezumi slouches into a chair set at a round wooden table.

"You like green tea. It's my favorite too."

"_Is_ it?"

Shion ignores the sarcasm and plucks tablespoons of loose-leaf from a substantial bag with cheery fingers.

"It's a good night for tea. Tea in the rain is the warmest kind."

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"Not nonsense, observation."

"You have a funny definition of observation."

"I observe what I observe."

"_I_ observe that you're infuriating."

"Maybe so. But you're still here."

Nezumi snorts and averts his gaze.

Just as the tea begins to steep, a voice floats up from the stairs. "Shion?"

Shion inhales sharply, back stiffened almost to the point of curving. "Yes mother?"

"You look like a trapped bird." Nezumi grins.

"Shhh!"

"Do you need anything, dear?"

"No, mother."

"Alright, well I'm heading off to bed. Don't stay up too late!"

"I won't. goodnight."

Shion doesn't deflate until Karan's footsteps travel gently up the stairs, through the den, down the hall and past the click of her door shutting. He refocuses on the tea with an exhale of relief.

"Crisis averted, hmm?" Nezumi indulges a look of immense amusement.

"My mother can never see you here."

"I'm _all_ for keeping secrets."

Shion feels his cheeks flush. He's not exactly sure why.

Nezumi is.

"You're going to be fun."

"Pardon?"

"You're going to be fun..."

Suddenly Nezumi presses against Shion from behind, the warmth of his stomach seeping into his back. He reaches deftly under Shion's arms to procure his tea and sips it smugly as Shion whirls around, face resembling a beet. Nezumi's eyes smile over the mug's rim.

"...To corrupt."

~~~End

A/N: Ahhh another No.6 fic. I just can't stop myself from writing their smexy faces into all kinds of *wonderful* situations. This one just happens to be my first AU endeavor. It's been fun so far, more chapters eventually. (In which the rating will be justified. Ahem.) Tell me whatcha think! As always, cheers!


	2. A First Kiss is A First Kiss

Those words, those last mischievous words, stick on Shion's ears even in daylight.

_"You're going to be fun...to corrupt."_

Shion slides over to the edge of his window, knowing Nezumi won't make an appearance on the street below for hours, but anticipation stretches his neck nonetheless.

"Shion." A muted knock follows Karan's voice.

"Come in."

Karan opens the door tentatively, brow knit with worry. "Has something been bothering you, honey? You seemed tense last night."

Shion's brain desperately flings him an excuse. "I was just tired. I'm fine now."

Karan sighs, her concern diffusing into a knowing smile.

"You stay up far too late with your nose buried in books."

Shion tries his best to conceal his relief.

"Yeah."

Karan plants a kiss on his forehead. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"I realized at breakfast we're almost out of milk. Would you get us some?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, love. Be safe on the street."

"I will."

Shion likes the long way to the store best. He takes the city in through his pores, admires the impossibly broad spectrum of people living, thriving around him.

_A beautifully imperfect place._

He weaves through the familiar hairline-fracture alleyways, humming his cheerfulness. Suddenly, another voice projects into the air, competing with his.

Sitting against the wall of the street before him, cup at his feet, just like he looks beneath Shion's window.

"Nezumi-!"

Nezumi ceases his song, smirk already spreading across his face.

"You couldn't wait for me to reach your window? How sweet."

"I'm just here to get milk." Shion stares down the block to his final destination, fighting the embarrassment of last night's memories.

"You crush me." Nezumi fakes a pout. "I like my reason better."

Shion brushes past, shaking his head, and Nezumi relishes the view of his back.

"What kind do we get again?" Shion asks the air, trying to clear his head of Nezumi-induced fog. He stares at the milk without seeing it at all.

"I think..." He reaches for a carton, inspects it, and shrugs, making his way to checkout.

When he emerges from the store, Nezumi is still there, still singing. This time the voice works its magic, stopping Shion in his tracks.

Shion can't help himself; he takes a seat next to Nezumi on the concrete.

Nezumi continues his song, watching the boy close his eyes, rest his head against the wall of the building standing high above them.

A smile seeps into his song.

As he finishes, Shion turns to him.

"You sing beautifully."

"I appreciate it."

Shion stares at Nezumi for a short silence, then mutters half to himself:

"Without music, life would be a mistake."

"Nietzche. Interesting." A spark lights in Nezumi's eyes. "Music, when soft voices die, vibrates in the memory."

"Shelley." Shion's face softens. He's met someone as well-read as he. "I love Shelley."

The spark bursts into flame.

"It seems I underestimated you, flower."

"Oh? In what way?"

Nezumi's gaze lifts to burn Shion's. "In many ways, I imagine."

The fire spreads to Shion's cheek.

"I-I'm not a girl, you know."

"Excuse me?"

"You keep saying such...provocative things."

Shion stares at his lap.

"I don't like being mocked."

"You make it too enjoyable to mock you. Your face is as red as your eyes."

Nezumi pulls Shion's head toward him. "Such a lovely, albino flower-"

"Stop it." Shion swats him away.

"I won't say you couldn't be mistaken for one, but yes, I'm aware you're not a girl."

"Then you're just spiteful."

"Now _you_ underestimate _me_."

Nezumi reaches a hand up through Shion's hair. "I meant what I said last night, _you know_."

Shion tenses at fingertips against his ear. Nezumi's eyes narrow with mirth.

"And it's been as fun as I thought it would be."

Slowly Nezumi rubs his thumb back and forth on Shion's cheek. Shion sighs with a shudder and his eyes flutter shut.

"Look at you, you don't pull away." Nezumi's face inches closer. "You tainted quickly."

"Apparently-you-can't do anything quickly."

Shion cracks an eyelid. Nezumi blinks, startled, then lets loose a devilish laugh.

"Less than twenty-four hours. That must be some kind of record."

"Quiet."

Shion yanks Nezumi to him with force Nezumi didn't anticipate. Nezumi's lips smile beneath Shion's, and his hands make their way down to Shion's waist. They play at the band of his pants when Shion jerks back, breathless.

"You've had your fill?" Nezumi settles against the wall, taking in the flustered boy before him.

"Using your mouth to speak is much different than using it on someone else's, eh? For all your adorable attempts at flirtation, a first kiss is a first kiss."

He rises from the pavement. "I'll let you recover. You know two places to find me when you're ready for more."

Shion is too shocked at himself to reply. When he comes to, he realizes, to his dismay, that the milk probably won't be any good by the time he gets home.

He walks back to the store with a wobble in his step.

~~~End

A/N: All I can say is that this is a blast to write. Thank you all for the kind words and deeds so far. Cheers.


	3. Consider Yourself Corrupted

Shion wasted no time seeing Nezumi again.

He sought him out the next day in back of his building, and they spoke until the sun went down of literature, music, philosophy. Everything in which Shion's brain delights.

In the subsequent days, Shion begins to realize that his heart delights in the conversation too, but not because of the discussion topics. More and more he finds himself waiting for the small, intimate moments. The lips, the hands.

The conversations without words.

Shion is torn from this revelation by Nezumi's voice. His stomach flutters at the sound. He jogs down the stairs and steps into the evening. He's just around the corner, like always.

"Nezumi. Hey."

"I shouldn't talk to you so much." Nezumi stretches, the curve of his back tempting Shion's imagination. "Talking with you doesn't make me money."

"What sort of payment do you prefer?"

"Ooh. I've taught you well." Nezumi pats the concrete beside him. Shion obliges.

"What shall we speak of today, darling?"

"You."

Shion looks seriously into Nezumi's eyes.

"You know pretty much all there is to know about me. But I don't know where you're from, what you do..."

"You know what I read, what I listen to and what I like. Why the sudden heightened interest?"

Shion breaks eye contact, unable to answer.

"I see." Nezumi's voice brims with understanding.

"I'm from the west block. Went to school for a while, didn't go to college. I've done some acting, local stuff, parents are long gone. I'm just out here surviving."

He leans his head on Shion's shoulder. "Is that sufficient?"

"I suppose..." Shion sighs. "I just-I want to know you better. Really know you. You're one of the most interesting people I've ever met. And I-"

Shion's eyes return desperately to Nezumi's face. "I-"

"Say no more." Nezumi presses his mouth to Shion's jaw. "I'll tell you what you want to know."

Nezumi stands, surveying the purpling sky. "Come with me."

"Alright."

Shion pops a text off on his ancient, dubious cell phone to Karan letting her know he's staying over at a friend's, _just so she doesn't worry_, and follows Nezumi into the city.

They end up on its edge, with the west block sprawling about them. Their final steps land them at the door of a weathered but well-kept shack, small and whitewashed.

Nezumi bows before Shion. "My humble abode."

Nezumi leads a tour of the meager space. "There you have the kitchen, there's the den, bathroom, et cetera, et cetera. Your interests, I'm sure, lie further down the hall."

Shion says nothing.

Nezumi stops, hand turned on the knob of the last door on the hall. "Here we are."

He pushes it open with a flourish.

The room is lined with books. Classics of the world in multiple languages and editions. They dwarf the bed and overflow onto the nightstand.

"It's beautiful." Shion's eyes glisten with them. He stares in awe.

"Some given, some borrowed, some found. A few bought."

Nezumi smiles up at them.

"All of them, yes, beautiful."

Shion pushes Nezumi over the threshold of the room, shutting the door behind them. Nezumi lets himself be pinned to the bed, lets his lips be taken between Shion's.

Shion half-whispers inches from Nezumi's face. "Just like you."

"Shion, I'd say your transformation is complete."

Nezumi returns the kiss, plus tongue.

"Consider yourself corrupted."

He leans Shion against the headboard and slowly, deliberately peels back the layers of cardigan and shirt from the boy's body. Nezumi notices that the line of red on Shion's face, which up until now Nezumi dismissed as none of his business, continues past his collar.

All the way down, perhaps?

One can only hope.

Shion interprets Nezumi's line of sight. "It's a birthmark," he clarifies shyly.

"Really? Some birthmark." Nezumi strokes the segment of it running across Shion's chest with an index finger.

"It's practically made for foreplay."

Shion has no reply, only a gasping reaction to Nezumi's tongue replacing his finger.

"You're like a candy cane, but better-tasting."

Shion whimpers.

Nezumi smirks, eyebrows raised. "That's all it takes with you?"

"It's-your voice."

Shion inhales, trying to gather his thoughts through the red of his cheeks.

"You're voice saying those things is what's-" he winces. "Erotic."

"You flatter me. You're making it easy."

Nezumi's tongue sears a trail up to Shion's neck. Shion leans his head back, exposing skin hidden under his hair to the sensation. Nezumi sets to it with gusto, kissing it raw, teasing it between his teeth.

The ridge of the headboard bites into Shion's scalp, but all of his nerves are drowning in the thrill of being touched. Nezumi's hands rest lightly on his torso; Nezumi himself is straddling his legs. Every point of contact tingles.

One of Nezumi's hands strays down to Shion's hip. Shion purrs involuntarily, in spite of himself, all to the wicked delight of Nezumi.

"I'm getting warmer, I see."

The hand dips just below waistband, twisting itself mercilessly in the edge of Shion's underwear.

The underwear becomes cumbersome in a way Shion hasn't known in a long time.

Shion smiles weakly. "So am I."

Nezumi's lips crush over Shion's as he moves his hand the last two inches to the left.

Shion groans into Nezumi's mouth, pitching forward, acutely aware of his blood pulsing in Nezumi's grip.

"What-was that for?"

Nezumi untucks him and slides down, down, down. He grins up at Shion from between his legs. "I had to taste those words."

"Ah-!"

Shion clutches tufts of slate hair in his fists as Nezumi takes him into his mouth. His legs pull up reflexively and his back curls, drawn into an arch by the desire to be closer, to push in. The rhythmic skill of Nezumi's hands coaxes soft, ecstatic cries from Shion; wordless praise that pleases Nezumi more than he'd let on.

"You're just dying to put it in, aren't you?" Nezumi reaches for a bag slung over the nightstand, fishes out a condom, deploys it on Shion. Shion hears the zipper unzipping, the fabric hissing against Nezumi's legs on its way off. He flushes at the accusation but doesn't deny it as he pulls Nezumi onto his lap, spits on his hand, reaches beneath him.

"Well now. I figured you'd need a lesson."

Nezumi settles around Shion's fingers, relishing their flex and stretch inside him. He feels himself stiffening. It's not lost on Shion.

"I'm a college student, after all."

"Ah, the perverted curiosity of youth."

Shion dispenses plush kisses where neck meets shoulder, his unoccupied hand pushed under Nezumi's arm to spread across his upper back.

"You're quite the romantic, flower."

"I wouldn't know either way."

"You touch like a lover."

Shion removes his fingers, one by one. He lays Nezumi back, carefully sets his legs up and apart.

"You really are adorable."

"What did I do?"

"I'm not made of glass."

Shion perches over Nezumi and presses his mouth to Nezumi's forehead.

"See? You're spoiling me."

Shion moves to the tip of Nezumi's nose, this time with a smile.

"I wouldn't know either way."

Lips meet lips as Shion eases in, a kiss like a schoolboy's first, chaste even as Shion rolls his hips and Nezumi clenches him between his legs. The initial pain is overwhelmed by a sweetness and gentleness in Shion's movements that throbs. Nezumi clings to Shion, happy to pretend to be the type of person that deserves it.

He clings harder as Shion expands, struggling to repress the noises welling up in his throat. Shion senses his restraint. "You don't have to hold back. Won't you sing for me?"

Upon realizing what he's said, Shion blushes fiercely. Nezumi laughs breathlessly.

"Jesus, Shion, that's an inhuman shade of scarlet."

He forces Shion's ear closer to his mouth. "Lucky for you...I'm taking requests."

He gives gentle sounds from his lips, sounds so perfectly _him_, musical in a completely different way. They build in Shion's ears, hotter and hotter...

"Nezumi-"

"Hn-Shion."

"Nezumi-! I-!"

Shion climaxes with a shuddering cry. Nezumi follows soon after.

When all is said and done there's still the bed, the resting of Shion's head on Nezumi's chest. Nezumi plays idly with the half-asleep Shion's hair, allowing his breath to sync with Shion's.

"Nezumi."

Shion lifts his head groggily and his hair tumbles into his face.

"I'd say...the corruption was mutual." He smiles widely. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Nezumi ruffles Shion's hair. His hand lingers on his head. "Go back to sleep."

Shion returns his head smugly to Nezumi's chest.

"Thought so."

~~~End~~~

A/N: We have reached the conclusion! The chapters with the sex are always the longest, am I right? They're also the easiest for me to write. Not sure what to make of that, but y'know. *Coughs* Hope you enjoyed this! Expect more from me in the near future. Cheers.


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